Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s.The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach(菠菜) to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.
Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable.
People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.
Today, we know that the little iron there is in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid(叶酸).
It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along. A good title for this reading passage is______.
| A．Popeye the Sailor |
| B．The Truth About Spinach |
| C．A Mistake with Numbers |
| D．Folic Acid Makes You Strong |
Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?
| A．They thought spinach made them strong. |
| B．They thought Popeye was funny. |
| C．Spinach had a lot of iron. |
| D．People liked folic acid. |
A research group told people that spinach______.
| A．made Popeye strong |
| B．was a green vegetable |
| C．had less iron than other green vegetables |
| D．had more iron than other green vegetables |
Folic acid is ______.
| A．something in food |
| B．a vegetable |
| C．dangerous |
| D．a certain kind of spinach |
To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains, But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against the rain, Its first use was as a shade against the sun!
Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient
times . Probably the first to use it were the Chinese in the 11th century B C.
We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honor. In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by those in high office.
In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. And the umbrella was in commonly used in ancient Greece. But it is believed that the first persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans.
During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared. Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century. And again it was considered as a symbol of power. By 1680, the umbrella appeared in France and later in England.
By the eighteenth century, the umbrella was used against rain throughout mostof Europe.
Umbrellas have hot changed much in style during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that women’s umbrellas began to be made , in a whole variety of colors.According to this passage, the umbrella was probably first invented in ancient_______.
| A．China | B．Egypt | C．Greece | D．Rome |
Which of the following statements is not true about the umbrella?
| A．No one exactly knows who the inventor of the umbrella was |
| B．The umbrella was first invented to be used as protection against the sun. |
| C．The umbrella changed much in style in the eighteenth century |
| D．In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. |
A strange feature of the umbrella’s use is that it was used as__________.
| A．protection against rain | B．a shade against the sun |
| C．a symbol of honor and power | D．women’s decoration (装饰) |
In Europe, the umbrella was first used against the rain_______________.
A. during the Middle Ages B. by the 18th C. in Rome D .in GreeceThis passage talks mainly about_______________.
| A．when and how the umbrella was invented |
| B．why the umbrella was so popular in Europe |
| C．the development of the umbrella |
| D．The history and use of the umbrella |
No one really knows how and why people change as they get older. Also, no theory sufficiently explains all the changes of the aging process. Aging is a complex and varied process that varies in how it affects different people and organs. In fact, even in one person , different organ systems “age “ at a different rate.
At a certain point in our lives our body systems will begin to weaken . It may become more difficult for us to see and hear. The slow change of aging causes our bodies to lose some of their ability to bounce back from disease and injury. In order to live longer , we have always tried to slow or stop this change that leads us toward the end of our lives.
Many factors decide our health . A good diet plays an important role. The amount and the type of exercise we get are another two factors. Our living condition is yet another. But scientists studying the aging problem want to know: Why do people grow old? They hope that by studying the aging medical science they may be able to make the length of life longer.
There is nothing to be afraid of as the old age comes. Many consider the later part of life to be the best time for living. Physical activity may become less, but often we get better understanding of the world and ourselves.
What we consider the old age now may only be middle-aged some day soon. Who knows ,with so many advances in medical science happening so quickly, life length may one day be measured in centuries ,rather than in years!The underlined phrase “bounce back ”means “__________.”
| A．jump backward | B．run fast | C．prevent | D．recover |
In order to make people live longer, scientists _______according to the text.
| A．teach people how to eat properly |
| B．discover how important the exercise is to one’s health |
| C．study the ways to slow or stop the process of aging |
| D．invent new medicine to slow down the process of aging |
Many consider the later part of life to be the time of living because they__________.
| A．consider their lives have been very successful |
| B．have come through the battle of life safely |
| C．know more about themselves and the outside world |
| D．can have a good rest and enjoy themselves |
How many factors which decide our health are mentioned in the text?
| A．Two | B．Four | C．Five | D．Six |
Rules of safety are made to keep people from getting hurt. It is important for everyone to learn how to live safely while at home, work, or play. You should always remember this. Put safety first.
Safety can be practiced at home by following some simple rules. Use ladders instead of stepping up on tables and chairs. Keep stairs well lighted and clear of things for someone to trip over. Fasten down loose rugs. Turn handles of pots inward from the edges of stoves. Keep matches and medicines out of the reach of small children.Keep electric wiring in good repair.
Safety at work has been getting attention from groups of people for many years. Safer machines have been built to cut down on accidents. Red lights warn when equipment is out of order and is not to be used. The proper shoes, gloves, robes, hats, or coats help protect workers on the job.
Safety at play is important, too. Children should use swings and slides properly. Common sense by people boating and swimming will also help everyone around stay safe. Good manners and care for others are part of safety.
Living safely can be fun for you as well as for those around you, You will be able to help others think before they act. Try to work for safety in everything you do.Which of the following statements is not included in the rules listed in the passage?
| A．Use ladders to reach a high place or object, |
| B．Light stairs all the time. |
| C．Keep wires in good condition. |
| D．Keep matches out of the reach of small children. |
The first sentence in the third paragraph implies______.
| A．people .have been absorbed in safety at work for many years |
| B．safety at work has been an attractive problem for a long time |
| C．safety at work has drawn people's attention since many years ago |
| D．people paid more and more attention to safety at work |
From the last paragraph we know that_____.
| A．living safely is meaningful | B．you can help others think and do |
| C．we should try to work well | D．all of the above |
This passage mainly teaches us_______.
| A．how to behave well | B．what we should pay attention to at work |
| C．we should do things safely | D．rules of safely |
A quarrel at home may result in you falling ill. Don’t laugh, it’s true. Family matters including living habits and even the way we speak have a big effect on our health, doctors say.
Wang Xiaoyu, a Senior 2 girl from Xichang, Sichuan Province, fainted (晕倒) in class when she heard her classmates quarrel at the top of their voices. Quarrels between her parents also put the girl into a coma. It is because she is suffering from depression (抑郁症), caused by bad relations at home, doctors explained.
“We don’t get sick or stay well by ourselves,” says Dr Robert Ferrer from the US. Ferrer shows that family forces may explain up to a quarter of health problems, in his recent research.
The genes you get from your family may cause illness. If one of your parents has a heart attack, your risk of being affected may double. But effects on health are not only written in our DNA.
Unrelated people who live under the same roof also get similar problems. Diet, lifestyle and environment affect our health, too.
Ferrer’s research also found that if teenagers feel they are ignored or unimportant at home they are more likely to get sick.
We may never fully understand all the effects that families have on our health. But just as individual (个别的) problems can have effects on others, a small improvement can have big benefits, Ferrer said.Which of the following can best explain why Wang Xiaoyu fainted in class?
| A．Because her classmates often quarreled in class. |
| B．Because her parents used to quarrel. |
| C．Because of her depression caused by bad family relations. |
| D．Because her classmates shouted loudly at her. |
According to Dr Ferrer, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．We get sick or stay well by ourselves. |
| B．Only the genes we get from our family have a big effect on our health. |
| C．Our health has nothing to do with diet, lifestyle and environment. |
| D．Teenagers who are ignored at home get sick more easily than those who are not. |
The underlined word “coma” in Paragraph2 probably means ________.
| A．embarrassment | B．faint | C．tiredness | D．sadness |
The best title for this passage is ________.
| A． Family relations. | B．The reasons why we get sick. |
| C． Happy family makes you healthy. | D．A research about teenagers’ health. |
Many people go to school for an education. They learn languages, history, geography, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Others go to school to learn a skill so that they can make a living. School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything from school. A teacher, no matter how much he knows, cannot teach his students everything they want to know. The teacher’s job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So, much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.
It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to memorize (记住) some facts or a formula (公式). It is usually quite easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula in mathematics. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientists, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo didn’t get everything from school. But they were all so successful. They invented so many things for mankind. Above all, they knew how to use their brains. Whether he is more ________or less, a teacher can’t teach his students everything they want to know.
| A．important | B．useful | C．difficulty | D．knowledgeable (有知识的) |
A teacher’s job is mainly to train his students to master the ability of __________.
| A．learning by themselves | B．making a living |
| C．reading and thinking | D．studying all the subjects |
The reason for scientists’ success is that _______.
| A．they read books that were not taught at school | B．they worked all their lives |
| C．they wasted not a single moment | D．they knew how to use their brains |